Oatmeal Travel Packets

I grew up on my mom's oatmeal.  She believed in a hot breakfast every morning.  Whether or not I was awake enough to eat it before school was another matter altogether.  I'll admit that I usually have a piece of peanut butter toast and coffee at home, but when I'm camping I LOVE to eat oatmeal.  Something hot in your stomach feels wonderful in the morning, and all you need is hot water to make it.  I cheat when we have our camper by running water through the coffee machine and using that to make the oatmeal before I brew my coffee.  It's easy, and it works! 

The individual packages of flavored oatmeal from the store are too small for my teens.  Even I add regular oatmeal to the package stuff when I'm at home.  When I am packing up my pantry for camping, here is my recipe for oatmeal.

Creamy Homemade Fruit Oatmeal Packets
1-cup quick cooking oatmeal
3 tablespoons powered coffee creamer
2 tablespoons dried fruit or (2 tablespoon fruit preserves)
2-3 teaspoons confectioners sugar - more or less to taste

Optional: Add a little cinnamon, pumpkin spice, salt or brown sugar

Directions for Each Oatmeal Packet:
Place 1/2 cup of the oats in a blender and grind until powdery. Then place in freezer zip-lock bag along with all of the other ingredients.

 

To Make: Open the bag and pour 1/2 cup into a bowl.  Add 1/2-cup boiling water, mush and wait.  If you like thick oatmeal, use less water and if you like thinner oatmeal use more water.

Instant Oatmeal Travel Packets 

3 cups Quick-Cooking Oats

1 teaspoon Salt

Small sized Zip Baggies

Put 1/2 cup oats in a blender and blend on high until powdery. Set aside in a small bowl, and repeat procedure with an additional 1/2 cup oats. If you're using a food processor, you can do the 1 cup of oats in one batch. Put the following ingredients into each zip baggie: 1/4 cup un-powdered oats, 2 Tbsp. powdered oats, and 1/8 tsp. salt. Store in an airtight container.

To serve: Empty one travel packet into a bowl. Add 3/4 cup boiling water. Stir and let stand for 2 minutes. For thicker oatmeal, use less water - for thinner oatmeal, use more water.

Variations:

Apple-Cinnamon Oatmeal- To each packet add 1 Tbsp. sugar, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, and 2 Tbsp. chopped dried apples.

Sweetened Oatmeal- To each packet add 1 Tbsp. sugar or 1 packet 'Equal' artificial sweetener.
Brown Sugar/Cinnamon Oatmeal - To each packet add 1 Tbsp. brown sugar & 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Oatmeal w/Raisins & Brown Sugar - To each packet add 1 Tbsp. packed brown sugar and 1 Tbsp. raisins.
Health Nut Oatmeal - To each packet add 2 Tbsp. any kind of wheat germ
Fruit & Cream Oatmeal - To each packet add 1 Tbsp. non-dairy coffee creamer and 2 Tbsp. dried fruit
Fun Fruit Oatmeal - To each packet, add 6 or 7 pieces of 'fruit snack' type dehydrated fruit.
Confetti Oatmeal - To each packet, add 1 tsp. decorative cake/cookie sprinkles.
S'More Oatmeal - add 6 miniature marshmallows and 1 Tbsp. Milk Chocolate Chips to each packet.
Cookies n Cream Oatmeal - add 1 crushed Oreo cookie and 1 Tbsp. non-dairy coffee creamer to each packet.
Exploding Oatmeal - add 1 tsp. sugar, and 1/2 tsp. 'Pop Rocks' candy to each packet. This one is fun for celebration days, such as birthdays.
Bart-man Oatmeal - add 2 Tbsp. 'Butterfinger B.B's' candies to each packet.

We especially like raisins, chocolate chips and dried apples in our mix. I'll add some other flavor combinations below.   Enjoy!